California Electric Substations

The California Energy Commission (CEC) Electric Substation geospatial data layer has been created to display the locations of substations in California. It contains point features representing transmission substations and some distribution substations in California. These substations are fed by electric transmission lines and are used to step-up and step-down the voltage of electricity being carried by the lines, or simply to connect together various lines and maintain reliability of supply. These substations can be located on the surface within fenced enclosures, within special purpose buildings, on rooftops (in urban environments), or underground. A substation feature is also used to represent a location where one transmission line "taps" into another. When used in association with the CEC Power Plant and CEC Electric Transmission Lines geospatial data layers, viewers can analyze the geographic relationships with the substation across utilities, counties and state. The data has been gathered from two sources - internal CEC data and the Department of Homeland Security's - Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD). The CEC data was created from a project spanning many years and was previously updated in 2016. The data was derived from utility companies and USGS topographic map. Some of the data was rectified from GE and Platts substation geospatial data. The sources for the substation point digitizing are including sub-meter resolution of Digital Globe, Bing, Google, ESRI and NAIP aerial imageries, with scale at least 1:10,000. Occasionally, USGS Topographic map, Google Street View and Bing Bird's Eye are used to verify the precise location of a facility.The substation data, as one of the CEC's California Energy Infrastructure spatial data will be used to: 1. Support the CEC/STEP/Strategic Transmission Planning and Corridor Designation Office in corridor study and transmission line siting; 2. Support the CEC staffs' various analysis by providing general geographic reference information; 3. Enhance communication between and among government agencies on emergency management, resource management, economic development, and environmental study;4. Provide illustration of critical infrastructure spatial data to the public or other agencies in hard copy format.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier 2aec901a-e2ff-4f87-bb22-e01006086589
issued 2017-12-27T17:05:22.000Z
modified 2021-08-25T23:30:24.340Z
publisher California Energy Commission
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash eca480f930f03b3760fc64b7000f725dc511d101
source_schema_version 1.1
theme {"Natural Resources"}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • california-energy-commission
  • california-natural-resources-agency
  • caopendata
  • ckan
  • electric
  • geo
  • geoss
  • national
  • north-america
  • substation
  • united-states
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer tdavid_CAEnergy
maintainer_email gis@energy.ca.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-22T21:22:33.068841
metadata_modified 2025-11-22T21:22:33.068845
notes <p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>The California Energy Commission (CEC) Electric Substation geospatial data layer has been created to display the locations of substations in California. It contains point features representing transmission substations and some distribution substations in California. These substations are fed by electric transmission lines and are used to step-up and step-down the voltage of electricity being carried by the lines, or simply to connect together various lines and maintain reliability of supply. These substations can be located on the surface within fenced enclosures, within special purpose buildings, on rooftops (in urban environments), or underground. A substation feature is also used to represent a location where one transmission line &quot;taps&quot; into another. When used in association with the CEC Power Plant and CEC Electric Transmission Lines geospatial data layers, viewers can analyze the geographic relationships with the substation across utilities, counties and state. </p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>The data has been gathered from two sources - internal CEC data and the Department of Homeland Security's - <a href='https://hifld-geoplatform.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/electric-substations?geometry=-116.805%2C18.765%2C102.745%2C62.489' rel='nofollow ugc' style='color:rgb(90, 147, 89);'>Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD)</a>. The CEC data was created from a project spanning many years and was previously updated in 2016. The data was derived from utility companies and USGS topographic map. Some of the data was rectified from GE and Platts substation geospatial data. The sources for the substation point digitizing are including sub-meter resolution of Digital Globe, Bing, Google, ESRI and NAIP aerial imageries, with scale at least 1:10,000. Occasionally, USGS Topographic map, Google Street View and Bing Bird's Eye are used to verify the precise location of a facility.</p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>The substation data, as one of the CEC's California Energy Infrastructure spatial data will be used to: </p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>1. Support the CEC/STEP/Strategic Transmission Planning and Corridor Designation Office in corridor study and transmission line siting; </p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>2. Support the CEC staffs' various analysis by providing general geographic reference information; </p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>3. Enhance communication between and among government agencies on emergency management, resource management, economic development, and environmental study;</p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:6px; padding-bottom:1em; font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:13.3333px;'>4. Provide illustration of critical infrastructure spatial data to the public or other agencies in hard copy format. <br /></p>
num_resources 6
num_tags 13
title California Electric Substations